Stand and Deliver

We took a stand and now it is time for us to deliver. Last week, the CIF Southern Section Council sent a loud and clear message that you are ready for a change. You made Competitive Equity Playoffs a reality, by a vote of 74-10-1, and this new system will be in place and ready to go for the 2016-2017 school year. I am so proud of our section for taking a leadership role in this effort and I know you all join me in looking forward to seeing this new venture come to life.

I appreciate the trust, faith and confidence that you have shown in our ability to get the job done. I assure you that we will work as hard as we can to justify your belief that what lies ahead will do all that we expect it to do, which is to provide the best opportunities we possibly can for our student-athletes to compete for CIF Southern Section Championships.

Now that this proposal has passed, what are the next steps?

1) Scores – Once again, I need to emphasize the importance of our member schools entering all of their regular season and section playoff results into CIFSSHome. If you haven’t entered the results of your Fall Sports for the 2014 and 2015 seasons, do so now! The regular seasons for our Winter Sports are almost over, so this would be an excellent time to make sure that you have all of your Winter Sports entered into CIFSSHome for the current 2015-16 school year, and to also make sure they are complete and accurate for the 2014-15 school year as well.

2) Power Rankings – Our Assistant Commissioners have already begun developing Power Rankings for Fall Sports, using the previous two years of data that you have entered into the CIFSSHome system. Again, as soon as all of that information from all of the schools is entered, they can move closer to being able to complete the Power Rankings in those sports. Once all of the information from the Fall Sports is in the system, they will begin to finalize the formulas that will rank the schools in order from top to bottom. Also, they will be working with and seeking input from our various Coaches Advisory Committees to make sure the Power Rankings are as accurate as they can be. When our Winter Sports are over in early March, they will repeat the same process for developing two-year profiles and Power Rankings for each Winter Sport and the Spring Sports will follow in the same manner after they are finished in early June.

3) Playoff Divisions – As soon the proposal for Competitive Equity Playoffs passed last week, the most common question I have been asked is, “When will we see the Playoff Divisions for 2016-2017?” The answer is when our Assistant Commissioners finish compiling the Power Rankings for each sport, it will be time to utilize that information in creating the actual playoff divisions for them. As you know, we are committed to having playoff divisions published in the Sport Previews for each sport, and in the initial year of this new system, that is what we will do. However, it is our sincere hope that our membership will realize that our section’s culture has changed and a vital aspect of ensuring the success of Competitive Equity Playoffs will be your ability to give us the data we need to accomplish this task. In the years to come, I know we all would like to see playoff divisions released earlier, and with your help, we can achieve that goal.

The concept of change is always a difficult one to embrace. I believe this new playoff model is as significant a change that has occurred in our section’s 103 year history. I applaud you for having the courage to embark on this journey and I appreciate your help and support as we forge on.